Portable medical devices for electrically stimulating the heart are commonly known as automated external defibrillators (AED's). These devices are typically housed in a briefcase-sized container. They are frequently mounted on the wall or in a kiosk for use in emergencies. The present invention teaches the manufacture of a miniature AED operable in combination with a smartphone. The method taught herein produces an AED that is a little larger than a cellular telephone, but when combined with a smartphone is capable of full function to diagnose and correct arrhythmia of the heart by delivering electric shocks while interacting with emergency service providers.
AEDs are designed to be used by laypersons in the event of a person suffering from life threatening cardiac arrhythmias, which often lead to cardiac arrest. More and more public access places are now being equipped with AEDs. Examples include airplanes, restaurants, business and government offices, shopping centers, schools and fitness centers.
A typical AED case will include a software operating system, sensors to detect the patient's condition, a battery and associated components to store electrical energy, and electrodes or pads for placement on the patient's skin near the heart. The “A” in AED stands for “Automatic,” which describes the software's ability to autonomously analyze a patient's condition once the electrodes are in place on the patient's body. Most AEDs include voice prompts as well as visual displays to guide the person delivering the electrical shock.
When turned on, the typical AED software operating system will instruct the user to attach the electrodes (contained within sticky pads) to the patient. The pads adhere to the skin and allow the AED to sense the electrical output from the heart and determine if the patient's heart is in a state where an electrical shock will help, to wit, that the heart rhythm is either in ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. If the device determines that a shock would help, then the AED software system enables the battery to charge one or more internal capacitors in preparation to deliver the electrical shock.